10% tariff on VI as President Trump announces sweeping global tariffs
The controversial measures—described by Trump as kind reciprocal tariffs—marks one of the most aggressive economic interventions by a US administration in decades, triggering a ripple effect of diplomatic tension and economic recalibration in the region.
Caribbean nations such as Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago have also been caught in the crossfire with Guyana, for instance, facing a 38% tariff—one of the highest in the region—raising concerns over its ability to maintain competitive trade relations with the US.
10% tariff, not 25%!
The consolation for the Virgin Islands is that the 10% tariff is far less than the 25% proposed by US Virgin Islands Governor Albert A. Bryan Jr in response to the VI’s proposal to increase charter yacht fees for USVI operators.
Dubbed “Liberation Day” by President Trump, the sweeping trade policy adds heightened tariffs on countries that Trump says maintain “non-reciprocal” trade relationships with the United States.
The order invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and frames trade deficits as a national security threat, thereby justifying the imposition of higher tariffs—some exceeding 50%—on nations with substantial surpluses in U.S. trade.
More details to follow.
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President Trump's tariffs could affect shipping to the VI by Tropical
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25 Responses to “10% tariff on VI as President Trump announces sweeping global tariffs”
It's going to be way worst. The cost of bread will be a day pay because minimum wages here now and the raise when it comes is more than a day pay so what till it reaches the people who make more than minimum wage. Great reset is real
The Duty rates are not level in the BVI at all. There are a lot of anomolies in the tarrifs where things are overchageged by the government.
Beef 5%, Chicken Free, Seafood 15% The healthy option is being taxed so much.
Tobacco is 50% which is a good thing as a burden on the health service but why healthy fish is taxes so high.
We import from the USA not export to the USA, the issue is goods imported to the USA e.g. Rice not a massive crop in the USA but will push our prices up here very high.
This man is the white version of Poppa Doc
To be honest I can never understand what is being said here
President Trump high risk -tolerance action with universal reciprocal tariffs shocked, surprised, disrupted the global market place/economies. President Trump is taking a high risk gamble and time will tell if he were right.
When trade is free and voluntary, it is mutually beneficial to exporting and importing countries, ie, win-win. However, countries can employ trade barriers, ie, tariffs, quotas, embargoes, etc., to gain an advantage. For example, tariffs can be used to increase revenue, protect an industry(s), used as negotiating tool/weapon, etc. Some groups are resistant to international trade, viz, politicians, labor unions, environmentalists, human rights activists.
Inarguably, tariffs are a TAX, a regressive tax; it is not paid by the exporting country. It is paid by customers in the importing country. It (tax) is more impactful on customers at the lowest rung of the economic ladder.
Moreover, in order for a country to get what it needs and wants for its citizens to enjoy a higher standard of living and quality of life, etc., it must trade with other countries. Even when a country has an absolute advantage in producing a product, it may be better to let other countries produce it.Further, it may be better for a country to produce what it can produce at the lowest opportunity cost—-comparative advantage—then trade for whatever else it needs. The stock market tanked the day after Liberation Day. Will countries revert to ‘mercantilism’ or the presence of Adam Smith will prevail?